


By Chance

by yikesthatsspicy



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, GN!Apprentice - Freeform, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Other, Slow Burn, Violence, dont worry sex soon, muriel is a soft lad but also stubborn af
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-23 17:07:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19705753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yikesthatsspicy/pseuds/yikesthatsspicy
Summary: Asra has left the apprentice alone yet again, but not entirely. Muriel swore to keep himself as a bodyguard in the shadows, but on a life-saving encounter with the apprentice, he finds he's not able to hide any longer.





	By Chance

**Author's Note:**

> accidentally fell in love with muriel so i have to write this honestly it's required

It had been a week since Asra left his loyal and dutiful apprentice at the shop alone. Of course, they would miss the talented, handsome magician dearly and would without a doubt grow lonesome in the cozy shop they called their home. It was a routine at this point with Asra, but quite a few things were off this time.

First of all, Asra left you his treasured tarot deck; one he never traveled without. When you tried to protest, you found yourself completely dumbfounded by the charming, intoxicating gaze he stared at you with. You did, however, question why he did so and if you were even ready to handle the cards by yourself. His response came with a lighthearted chuckle and a warm smile, “Of course you’re ready, and you’ve been ready for a long time now.” And with that, and a hug from him and a squeeze from Faust, he was gone.

Secondly, Countess Nadia herself arrived at your shop the same night Asra had left. She requested your help in the ongoing manhunt for Dr. Julian Devorak; the man who supposedly murdered Count Lucio on the night of the last masquerade. Of course, you could never turn the Countess, not that you ever wanted to, and you accepted to aid her. 

The third thing, possibly the strangest and most interesting encounter yet, was with the fugitive doctor himself breaking into your shop through the back door. You will admit he was suave, and you remember the last time you had been so flustered, but you stood your ground nonetheless. And just like Nadia and Asra, he soon took his leave after a brief tarot reading. 

The final thing that was off about this routine you had grown so used to is that you did not feel entirely alone. In fact, you felt quite the opposite and you weren’t sure if that was bad or good yet. Whenever you were out and about or even standing by a window in the shop, you couldn’t help but feel eyes gazing your every move. Perhaps it could have been the fire salamander while in the shop, but he slept a majority of the day and never accompanied you on your outings. So who-- or what-- on this planet could it be?

Here you were, sitting inside the shop with a hot cup of chamomile tea set in front of you. It was quiet in the shop, the only sound was the salamander’s quiet snoring. Your thoughts were elsewhere, you gaze transfixed on the dense, lush forest bordering part of the city. It was only then you didn’t feel a gaze fixed on you when you are looking at that forest, as if whatever it was was shy. Asra had warned you about wandering through it alone. But you decided to shove those warnings out of your head as curiosity boiled over in your mind. You took one last sip of your tea, grabbed your satchel full of herbs, money, and Asra’s deck, and set out to the forest before you could think it over twice. 

The yearning question of “What’s out there?”, rang through your mind as you strode to the forest. Could it be a person? A spirit? A friend, or a foe?

As these questions racked through your head, you didn’t realize you had strayed off the makeshift path. Now you were surrounded by towering trees in a dense green thicket. You quietly cursed under your breath, “Fantastic… Just great…” You went to reach into your bag for the tarot card deck to gain advice from the arcana. You stopped as soon as you felt the hair on the back of your neck prickle, your pulse quickening as you felt it. The very same presence you felt in Lucio’s destroyed and abandoned bedroom. Fear sank through you like an anchor, muscles tensing as you froze in place, waiting. A monstrous roar tore through the air behind you as a white blur flashed beside you out of the corner of your eye. That is when you took off running. Adrenaline pumped through your veins as you sprinted to get away from the demonic thing chasing you down. But your efforts were to no avail.

White claws suddenly ripped through the side of your torso and you were sent flying through the air as a cry of pain erupted from your throat. Your back harshly collided into a thick tree which only magnified the pain searing through you further. You landed onto the ground with a thud and painful groan through gritted teeth. Your vision quickly focused in on the white spirit in front of you. Though its appearance was a goat, you had no doubt it was once human. Its glowing crimson eyes bore into your soul with rage and it’s face twisted into a crude snarl. It approached you with its only arm littered with your blood ready to strike again. You took a shaky deep breath and cast a magical shield around you with the last of your energy. The motion of doing so made you involuntarily cringe to hold your bleeding side. The spirit let out an enraged shriek as it threw itself against your barrier- again, and again, and again. It was already starting to crack and the spirit could see it. Its snarl turned into a near-triumphant grin and it began to attack the barrier with great force. 

You could barely hear it over the zaps and banging from the creature against your shield, but your ears were not deceiving you. You heard another animal growling, from where you don’t know. But the next thing you saw was a large wolf pounce onto goat’s back, ripping through its flesh with her teeth. The goat screamed angrily as if throwing a tantrum, and began to shake violently as an attempt to remove the wolf while it’s hand reached up and grabbed her scruff. The goat flung the wolf off its back and she went skidding across the forest floor, leaves and trigs entangling her fur as she rolled.

The goat made to attack her again, but a mountain of a man suddenly stepped out from beyond the shadows. His fists clenched, knuckles going white as he mustered up the most menacing glare that would send any other being shaken to the core. The goat snarled at him but began to slowly retreat. It knew when it was outnumbered. 

The man watched the goat disappear into the shadows of the forest. His attention turned to you, visible concern on his face. Your vision, however, was fading so it wasn’t so visible to you. All you could really focus on was the sweat clamping onto your body, your burning lungs, aching limbs, and the pain wash over you in rippling waves from the four long gashes in your side. The last thing you could hear was the wolf whine and your name softly drip from the lips of your mysterious savior as you faded into unconsciousness. 


End file.
